The opening weekend of the 2014 NCAA tournament provided a number of memorable upsets, games, performances and moments. Let’s take a look at the best from a wild weekend.

Best game: (1) Wichita State v. (8) Kentucky

When the NCAA bracket was revealed, this was a potential matchup that had college basketball fans salivating. It had the storyline, the talent and the intrigue to be one of the most best games of the season. The game not only lived up to the hype, it surpassed it.

Both teams played at a high level, with the teams’ best players stepping up in the clutch. Cleanthony Early’s performance will go down as one of the best in Wichita State’s history, and Kentucky’s Julius Randle showed why he will be a top pick in June’s NBA draft. In a weekend that wasn’t the best advertisement for the college game, this gem stood out.

Nice to see two talented teams execute well against good defense, and score. What a great game. The way it should be.

Cotton’s team didn’t get the win, but that won’t take away from this epic performance. He finished with 36 points, eight assists and five rebounds. The senior made circus shots and pull-up jumpers down the stretch to keep Providence in the game. Cotton hit from outside and took it the rim. and he did it all without forcing anything while getting his teammates involved.

And despite falling short, Bryce Cotton's performance was special. Deserves to have UNC fans shudder at the mention of his name.

Most impressive team: Baylor

Baylor has the talent to make a Final Four run. The Bears had an inconsistent year but since the calender turned to March, they’ve hit another gear. After making it to the Big 12 tournament final, the Bears breezed through the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament, dominating two power conference teams by an average scoring margin of 22.

Scott Drew’s team has been excellent on the offensive end all season, but it’s the defensive improvement that has been most impressive thus far in the tournament. Baylor held the nation’s best offense to its second worst offensive performance of the season in the win over Creighton. The Bluejays scored just 0.92 points per possession against a long, athletic Baylor zone.

Biggest upset: (14) Mercer over (3) Duke

It wasn’t so much that Mercer beat Duke that makes it the biggest upset — it’s how it beat Duke. The Bears looked like the better team all game, while Duke needed 15 threes to even keep it close. The Blue Devils didn’t have an answer for Mercer inside, and couldn’t score in the paint on the other end.

Honorable mention: Stephen F. Austin over VCU; Dayton over Syracuse; North Dakota State over Oklahoma

Best moment: Stephen F. Austin’s four-point play

“Shooter gym, cuh!” Stephen F. Austin’s 28-game winning streak looked as if it was coming to an end Friday night. With under 10 seconds left, the 12-seed Lumberjacks trailed VCU by four points. Then Desmond Haymon was fouled in his shooting motion as he knocked down a clutch three. The game went into overtime and Stephen F. Austin was able to capitalize on the momentum with a win and ensure that Haymon’s shot would be more than a consolation.

Biggest letdown: Jabari Parker, Duke, and Andrew Wiggins, Kansas

This was supposed to be the year of the freshman — headlined by Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, the two best prospects to enter the college game in sometime. The two combined to play in just three tournament games, with neither putting on a memorable performance. Parker scored 14 points on 28 percent shooting in Duke’s loss to Mercer. Wiggins scored 19 in Kansas’ first game but disappeared in the Jayhawks’ loss to Stanford, scoring four points on 1-of-6 shooting. In June, both players will be taken in the first three picks of the NBA draft, but there will be a stain on their college careers.